ILS - DOLE

Every year, as the school year draws to a close, thousands of graduating students gear up for internships or on-the-job training (OJT) to get a taste of the world of work.
But are available internship programs living up to the objective of preparing students for work after graduation?
This is the concern that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Jobstreet.com, and the National Youth Commission (NYC) have in mind as they launched last week the National Internship Movement at the 2011 Jobstreet Career Congress at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.



“Your theme is very relevant,” said Baldoz, referring to the Congress’s theme, “Addressing Gaps of Youth Employability Through Internship”.
“ This is consistent with the overarching goal of the President’s labor and employment agenda which is “to invest in the country’s human resource as the best assets to make them employable and competitive,” she said.
“Your focus on youth employability is very strategic. Some 51% or 1.5M out of the 2.9M unemployed are young workers aged 15 to 24. Within the group of young workers aged 15 to 24 and considered part of the labor force, 18% are unemployed. We have a huge educated unemployed since 2 in every 5 unemployed workers have college or higher education,” she added. 

In her speech, the labor and employment chief cited the importance of a better internship program through effective partnerships between the academe, the TESDA, and private industry towards on-the-job training for university graduates. She emphasized the need for building appropriate university courses, including those considered “undersubscribed”, as well as the importance of the joint TESDA-CHED ladderized education program.

Saying that the internship advocacy would assist much in preparing the workforce for the 21st century world of work, the labor chief encouraged the youth to become responsible for their careers, which means acquiring proper skills and making correct educational choices, and engaging in dedicated skills training.



Secretary Baldoz was joined at the launching by Jobstreet.com Country Manager Grace Colet, Commission on Higher Education Nona Ricafort, and NYC Commissioner Earl Saavedra.


Cynthia R. Cruz, Executive Director of the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS), who was one of the speakers at the 2011 Jobstreet Career Congress, said internships provide students the opportunity to gain experience in their field, determine if they have an interest in a particular career, create a network of contacts, and gain required school credits”.



“We need to develop clear and consolidated guidelines on internship, apprenticeship and OJT programs that will help our young jobseekers maximize these opportunities to gain needed experience for the world of work,” said Cruz.

The ILS, an attached agency of the DOLE that serves as its policy and advocacy arm, has noted in its study, “Alternative Pathways: Toward charting an Actionable Framework for Youth Employment & Migration,” that many young jobseekers are finding difficulties in entering the job market.

Among these difficulties include the ambiguity of learnership, apprenticeship, internship and OJT programs.

The study noted the need to create a pool of internship providers and develop a code of practice among providers which will help professionalize internship in the country.

It observed that internships should provide students the needed boost to transition from education to employment through gainful work experience from course-required workplace training.
On the other hand, Jobstreet.com’s Ms. Colet, observed that “as a daily conduit between jobseekers and employers, we are a daily witness to the difficulty both employers and jobseekers have in making the match for the right jobs and the right skills”.

Jobstreet.com is the largest online job matching facility in the country.



“With more employers seeking relevant work experience from jobseekers, and jobseekers wanting more opportunities for work experience while still in school, we think that internships are key in bridging this gap between jobs and the jobseekers,” said Colet.



More than serving coffee, Running errands



Internships or OJT programs have frequently been identified as a situation where students serve coffee and run errands for intern supervisors, defeating its purpose of bridging students from school to work.
During island-wide consultations last year led by the ILS and the NYC for the Labor and Employment Plan, 2011-2016, youth leaders raised the issue of varying lengths of service and the unclear tasks and skills to be developed in internship programs.

The consultations also found out that OJT programs are not being taken seriously by some students. Most OJT programs were found to be too short and not aligned with courses being taken up by students. Youth leaders also said that companies did not seem to trust the trainees’ competence. 



Almost 500 school deans, practicum and career placement heads, guidance counselors and HR practitioners attended the Congress.

The Cebu leg of the Jobstreet Career Congress is scheduled on September 2 at the Crown Regency Hotel in Cebu City, where more than 100 school administrators from Visayas and Mindanao are expected to participate. The Congress will culminate with the National Internship Month Sign Up and Application Premiere on September 20 at the SMX Convention Center, where students nationwide are expected to register for the largest internship sign-up in the country.


(If you have any questions about this release, please contact Linartes M. Viloria, OIC-Advocacy & Publications Division, Institute for Labor Studies, Telephone Nos.: 5273490/5273447/09178710436, or Email: litesmviloria@yahoo.com.)